[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Crafting Systems: Supply-Drivenvs.Demand-Driven

[Dave Scheffer]

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Buehler" <johnbue at msn.com>
To: <mud-dev2 at lists.mud-dev.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 9:36 AM
Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Crafting Systems: 
Supply-Drivenvs.Demand-Driven
>
> There are undoubtedly other types of people that enjoy the crafting space
> (the saleseman, the supplier, etc), but I figure these two cover a lot of
> ground.  They also offer a way of dividing the crafting space at least 
> into
> two parts, which addresses some of Shannon's concerns.

I think you'd find these other types far more critical to the playstyle.  In 
fact I really don't think there are many sole artisan player types, simply 
because so few gameworlds really implement the things that drive a true 
artisanry, e.g. player skill.  I've seen a few attempts but they confused 
twitch with craftwork (hit the right colored flash of light on the red hot 
sword blank before it disappears, etc).  True Artisans are notoriously less 
social.

I suspect a controlled study of crafters across the MMOG-scape would reveal 
that it is the roles revolving around socialization that drive those 
players: the roles of salesman, supplier etc which actually make up the 
composite role of "businessman".  While there are many of us who like the 
idea of true artisanship and would really enjoy that part of the game it 
won't be satisfying until developers treat economy more directly with less 
susceptibility to minmaxing.

Shannon's proposal really deals with liquidity of the market and who drives 
value.  It is something that lends itself easily to technology if 
introducing marketing problematics for the game itself.  Suppliers don't 
dictate terms except under unusual circumstances. (example: pre-17th century 
Bihar India as a supplier was able to dictate diamond pricing simply because 
they owned the sole mines in the known world.)  Still though her analysis 
squarely targets the real draw in today's gameworld products for the crafter 
playstyle: socialization mechanics.

But more directly to John's point: artisans really are not a supported 
playstyle so we're better off decomposing and exploiting the various 
businessman roles.  Conflating his with Shannon's proposal: artisans never 
drive pricing except when they are organized into economic guilds with 
monopolic control.  That's difficult to model in most gameworlds simply 
because developers are catering more to non-crafters, and it is difficult to 
placate that demographic to the benefit of crafters because crafters compete 
with drops.  Developers are able to convince themselves it is ok for 
non-crafters to farm epic items repeatedly then it is to allow crafters a 
few select masterworks over a controlled time period.  Drop tables are the 
devil as far as crafters are concerned.